I'm on vacation, 5 minutes from my house

Hello bloggity readers.

It is nice to chat with you this evening from my motel room. I am munching on sugar daddies, eating popcorn, and sipping on ice water.

I am, you see, on vacation.

I decided I needed vacation yesterday when my three year old took the can of hot chocolate from off the counter and spread it all over the basement. The basement has carpet. The can of hot chocolate was pretty much full. The vacuum cleaner tried hard, but that chocolate powder is probably going to live in my basement carpet forever.

"Ian, I am getting a motel room tomorrow night and I am staying there by myself." That was what I said to Ian on the phone yesterday afternoon.
"Ok. Sounds fun." That is how I know my husband loves me and gets me.

So, here I am. At the Best Western in Sidney. I chose the Best Western because it has a hot tub. I decided to bring my 7 year old with me. Because even though I like to be alone, I like to be alone with people. We checked into our hotel, then walked to the restaurant across the street and had dinner. She talked so much she could barely eat her grilled cheese sandwich, and sipped only half of her Shirley Temple. Shirley Temples are vacation drinks. I realized I hardly ever hear her talk this much. She was having a vocal release, and told me many things. My favorite moment of the evening was when the pianist started playing,"Let it Go." My girl said,"Elsa! I love this song." Elsa and I have a tempestuous relationship since the cold never bothered her anyway, but I love it when my kids get so excited about music, so I embrace "Let it Go."

The most awkward part of dinner was when my 7 year old started talking about all the trophy animal heads on the walls. I live in a big time hunting community since we are the birthplace of Cabela's, but I am personally not a hunter. "Why is there a baby goat on the wall, mom?" "I think that is a pronghorn deer, and someone hunted it."  "What did they kill it with?"she asks. "I think a gun or a bow and arrow." She looks at it a little longer. "How did they get the blood off of it and put it on the wall?" I don't really know the answer to this question, so I guess. "There are these artists called taxidermists who clean the animals off and pose them." She had a lot more questions about the animal artists, and I had a lot of I don't knows.

Then we played some chess, and went to the hot tub. My seven year old swam in the pool, practiced her mermaid moves, and her superman dives. It was pretty great.

Now my little girl is asleep on the bed after listening to the ipod in her ear and drawing on brown cardstock paper.  I am listening to music and writing. You know what else I hear? My pandora music station. And that is all. I don't hear my 3 year old playing with her money at night like a dragon hoarding treasure. I don't hear my 2 year old coughing. I don't hear my 8 year old thinking of reasons she shouldn't go to sleep.

I also don't have Ian to rub my back.

I'm on vacation. I'll take it.